New test could aid children suffering from reflux disease

Monday June 16, 2008

Nuclear medicine could improve diagnosis, treatment of reflux in children with respiratory problems

A nuclear medicine imaging test was used to confirm that children with respiratory problems may be more likely to develop gastroesophageal reflux disease, according to researchers at SNM's 55th Annual Meeting. The nuclear imaging technique, known as scintigraphy, was also shown to be more effective in detecting the disease in these children than traditional barium X-ray technology. The results indicate that scintigraphy could become an important diagnostic tool for detecting reflux disease, a serious condition that can lead to chronic chest pain, vomiting, weight loss and lung impairment in children who suffer from it.

"Unfortunately, reflux disease is a common problem in children, especially for those with respiratory problems," said Wajiha Nasir, a researcher at the Nuclear Medicine Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute (NORI), Islamabad, Pakistan. "If left untreated, the disease can seriously impede children's health, growth and development, not to mention their quality of life. Our results show that scintigraphy is highly effective at safely diagnosing the condition."

Scintigraphy is a diagnostic test in which a two-dimensional picture is obtained through detection of a radiation emitted by a radioactive source given to the body. In this study, 55 children aged six months to 12 years who had asthma or lower respiratory tract infections were orally administered a commonly used radioactive imaging agent that was then detected through scintigraphy technology.

The test detected reflux disease in 66.6 percent of the children, revealing a strong association between reflux disease and respiratory disease. In addition, scintigraphy proved more effective at detecting the disease than traditional barium x-rays. Children in the study who exhibited reflux disease were given medication to treat reflux. At a three-month follow-up visit, most of the children's symptoms had improved after receiving the medication.

"Scintigraphy is one of the simplest radionuclide tests to administer, with a very low radiation burden," said Nasir. If performed routinely for children suffering from bronchial asthma and recurrent respiratory tract infections, this test could get children the treatment they deserve."

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